Google announces 'Impact Challenge in India' award winners

New Delhi: Search giant Google on Thursday announced the four winners of its 'Impact Challenge in India' competition, which asked Indian non-profit organisations to show how technology can positively impact India and the world.

The winners - Agastya, Digital Green, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship & Democracy and Sana - will each receive Rs 3 crore Global Impact Award, 10 Nexus tablets and support from Google to make their project a reality, Google Senior Vice President Nikesh Arora said announcing the winners.

All the 10 finalists of the Google Impact Challenge had pitched their concepts to a panel of judges, Arora, Google board member Ram Shriram, Google Director of Giving Jacquelline Fuller, Former Chairperson of Thermax Anu Aga and Omidyar Network India Advisors Managing Director Jayant Sinha.

While, Agastya, Digital Green, Janaagraha and Centre for Citizenship & Democracy were chosen by the judges, Sana was selected by public voting.

After over half a million people voted during the Challenge's 10-day voting period, Social Awareness, Newer Alternatives (SANA) was selected as public's fan favourite, Arora said.

Google also announced that the six runners-up in the Google Impact Challenge will each receive Rs 1.5 crore to scale their impact. The US-headquartered firm's Global Impact Awards support entrepreneurial non-profits using technology to tackle some of the world's toughest problems.

Previous awards supported ideas ranging from technology, which allowed under-privileged students to access Maths and Science education, to real-time sensors that monitor clean water. This is Google's second country-specific Challenge.